


Hiding Photos

by Emeraldawn



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memories of pre-fire Hales
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 18:38:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emeraldawn/pseuds/Emeraldawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles finds the Albums from before the fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hiding Photos

**Author's Note:**

> Written for prompt "Photograph" on both my Teen Wolf Bingo and fullmoon_ficlit. 
> 
> Thank you oomnydevvotchka for a great beta job. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. That is the property of MTV and Jeff Davis.

Derek always ordered people to do things, he rarely asked. So when he asked Stiles, after a date, “Can you do me a favor?” there was little Stiles could do but accept. Mainly because when Derek asked, he looked like a kicked puppy, a look Derek only got when the topic of his family came up.

The favor itself was easy. Derek was having the boxes from he and Laura's New York apartment shipped out to California. He asked if Stiles could be there to sign for them, since he was meeting with the family lawyer at the same time. If there was one thing Stiles was proud of, it was that Derek was finally allowing himself to move on. Clearing out the New York apartment, rebuilding his home, and forming relationships.

It was late Monday morning when Stiles drove out to Derek's house. The Hale house looked far less scary than it had when Stiles met Derek after Scott was bitten. The house was coming along slowly but nicely, Derek did insist that he do all the work himself. Which did make sense, you couldn't have contractors ask why a house had so many hidden rooms and passages built to hold werewolves if needed. This time, however there were more escape routes, so no one will be caught in the Hale House again. Stiles suspected that Derek added ways out of the house that even Stiles didn't know of.

Stiles entered though the side door, into a kitchen so massive and well put together that it put some professional kitchens to shame. Everything was overly-large to keep up with an ever hungry wolf pack. It was also one of only two rooms in which Stiles had ever seen Derek let go and relax. The pack had many nights around the heavy wood table, acting like a large family sitting together at a meal in any B-rated, made for TV Christmas movie. 

Stiles’s plan was to do some of his college work while waiting, but before he could even get his books out, there was a knock on the door, from the delivery company Derek had paid a fortune to pack up the apartment and ship everything out.

Stiles knew one of the reasons why Derek had asked him, and not one of his betas, to be there was he wouldn't half-ass it and just have the movers pile everything in one room. As the truck was unloaded, he had boxes go into the correct rooms, and anything from Laura's room went into a guest room so it could be gone through later. After the truck left, Stiles stayed busy by unloading boxes. Some were easy, like the kitchen. Others, like books, he left until the library was finished. But, there was one box Stiles came across that made him pause. He knew that he should leave it, but at the same time the box, which looked like it had never been unpacked in New York and was labeled Photos, held so many secrets. Like what did his parents look like, Peter's wife and kids, Derek's other siblings. What did the Hale house look like before the fire? How did they decorate for the holidays?

 

Looking out the large kitchen window toward the driveway, Stiles saw that he was still alone, “Well there’s no time like the present.” Opening the box, Stiles found that the pictures were kept in photo albums, and each one was dated to keep it organized. Someone in Derek's family had wanted to makes sure that the family memories were well kept. Grabbing one that was dated around the time of Derek's birth, he opened the dark brown leather cover to reveal pages that were slightly yellowed and had pictures glued to them. Whoever had put the book together had also labeled each picture with who was in it and the event.

Flipping through the pages, Stiles found the ones about Derek’s birth. The first one was of a baby wrapped tightly in a blue blanket, and he was being held by a man who looked a little like Peter and Derek. The man wasn't even looking at the camera; he was looking down at the small bundle with a look of pure awe on his face. The caption read, “Derek and his Daddy, 2 hours old.” Right below, it showed the same man kissing the top of a woman’s head as she held little Derek, with a caption of, “Derek, Mommy, and Daddy.” Flipping through the pages, Stiles saw other pictures of baby Derek being held by other family members, each with a caption of their relation to Derek. Stiles’s favorite was one of a little Laura, no more than three herself, sitting on the bed with her mother, trying to hold the baby. Her little arms could hardly wrap themselves around the bundle, and their mother’s hand was holding the baby's head up. Laura was looking down at her baby brother with the biggest grin on her face, like Christmas had come early. 

The pictures that followed were of Derek's firsts. Like the one that showed Derek in his first bath. The camera had caught Derek’s patented glare, causing Stiles to chuckle, “Looks like he was born with it.” There were other pictures too, of that year Laura got a bike, training wheels and all, for Christmas. There were even a few of Peter helping young Laura get her balance on the bike in the snow-shoveled drive.

Stiles got to watch Derek grow in the pictures, from a baby to a toddler at his uncle’s wedding, to a little boy going to kindergarten. He saw Peter as a normal, sane person in love with his wife. He smiled as Laura grew into a pretty young girl, who he bet would be a heart breaker in the next few albums. And, Stiles heart bleed a little at the family members that he saw preserved in photos who died in that fire. 

 

The sun was setting when Derek pulled up to the house. Seeing Stiles's jeep in the drive and the lights on in the kitchen let him know that he was not alone. Which, knowing that his and Laura's belongings had arrived today, might not be a bad thing. Maybe he could talk Stiles into having dinner with him, and if needed, maybe he could lose himself in Stiles's body tonight. Derek knew it was necessary to close the New York apartment, he knew that something needed to be done with the burnt remains of the Hale house. But, it was so hard, and sometimes he just wanted to hide from the ghosts of the past. 

Walking into the kitchen, Derek saw Stiles at the table looking through a very familiar leather-bound book. Pausing just inside the doorway, Derek's eyes locked onto the book. His instincts were in fight or flight mood. He wanted to yell at Stiles for opening that box, for looking at Derek before his family died by his mistake. He also wanted to run, and run far from those memories. 

Looking up at Derek, Stiles must have saw something in his face, because Stiles quietly stood up, closed the book and but it back in the box with the others.

“It's ok, Derek.”

“No Stiles...you shouldn't have...I can't...”

Even with all of Derek's werewolf senses, he never noticed Stiles move toward him until his hand was lightly touching his arm. Looking at Stiles, Derek saw concern in his eyes, not the pity he feared. 

“Trust me, I understand, Derek.”

Derek leaned into Stiles’s neck, taking a calming breath, “I want to, but right now I just can't. Those books...it's just too much, too fast.”

“Derek, its ok, I'll put them with Laura's things, and when you’re ready, I'll be right here, if you want me.”

Derek pulled Stiles in for a quick kiss, “Yes, I think I'd like that”


End file.
